Take a view, the Landscape(风景)Photographer of the Year Award, was the idea of Charlie Waite, one of today's most respected landscape photographers.Each year, the high standard of entries has shown that the Awards are the perfect platform to showcase the very best photography of the British landscape.Take a view is a desirable annual competition for photographers from all comers of the UK and beyond.
Mike Shepherd (2011) Skiddaw in Winter Cumbria, England |
It was an extremely cold winter's evening and freezing fog hung in the air. I climbed to the top of a small rise and realised that the mist was little more than a few feet deep, and though it was only a short climb, I found myself completely above it and looking at a wonderfully clear view of Skiddaw with the sum setting in the west. I used classical techniques, translated from my college days spent in the darkroom into Photoshop, to achieve the black—and—white image(图像). |
Timothy Smith (2014) Macclesfield Forest Cheshire, England |
I was back in my home town of Macclesfield to take some winter images. Walking up a path through the forest towards Shutlingsloe. a local high point, I came across a small clearing and immediately noticed the dead yellow grasses set against the fresh snow. The small pine added to the interest and I placed it centrally to take the view from the foreground right through into the forest. |
Port Lympne Reserve, which runs a breeding(繁育)programme, has welcomed the arrival of a rare black rhino calf(犀牛幼息). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed in captivity(圈养).
Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said: "Obviously we're all absolutely delighted to welcome another calf to our black rhino family. She's healthy, strong and already eager to play and explore. Her mother, Solio, is a first—time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It's still a little too cold for them to go out into the open, but as soon as the weather warms up. I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing every day."
The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port Lympne arrived on January 5 to first—time mother Kisima and weighed about 32 kg. His mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving the rhinos a "critically endangered" status.
When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don't worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: " Safe! Safe! Safe!" And that's what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I'd given it up.
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I've traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. "I was a local here 20 years ago," I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. "Safe, man. Safe."
"Yeah," I said. "Safe."
Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.
Let's state clearly: Einstein was a genius. His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?
In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. It's said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club—women, or people of a different color or belief—they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.
A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender(性别)are "really, really smart." Even worse, the study found that girls act on that belief Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are "really, really smart." Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn't take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.
Here's the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we're all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors(因素)like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with "intelligence, creativity, perseverance(毅力), and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world."
Swap, Don't shop!
You keep hearing about recycling, right? But it doesn't end with bottles, cans, and paper. Clothing takes a huge amount of natural resources(资源)to make, and buying loads of new clothing(or throwing out old clothing)is not healthy for the environment. So what to do with all those perfectly-good-but-you're-maybe-a-little-sick-of-them clothes piled on your bedroom floor? . It's the best way to get rid of your used clothes, score clothes from your friends, and have a party all at the same time.
A successful swap depends on the selection of clothes, the organization of the event, and, obviously, how much fun is had. It's really easy to do! Here are a few pointers.
●Invite 5—10 people so you have a nice selection. , and there may not be enough things to choose from; more than that, and it becomes uncontrollable.
●. They should also prepare plenty of reusable bags to carry their "new" clothes home.
●Put different types of clothing on different surfaces in the room.. Place a few mirrors around your room so people can see how things look when they try them on. One of the ground rules of the swap should be that everyone must try on the clothes before they take them—things always look different when you put them on.
●Set a starting time. Maybe you say "go," or turn on a certain song, or whatever. . And don't forget to put out some cookies and fruits. Remember, it's a party!
A. Less people than that
B. Hold a clothing swap
C. If two people are competing
D. Just keep music playing throughout
E. Donate whatever clothes are left over
F. Have everyone put their clothes in the right spots
G. Tell everyone to bring clean clothes in good condition
It's the seaside birds that deserve at least part of the blame for getting Nick Burchill blacklisted at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada.
Burchill was 1 at the hotel on business and planning to 2 some friends in the area. They had asked him to 3 some pepperoni (辣香肠) from back east. So he 4 a suitcase full of pepperoni. As he was 5 that it would be too warm, he 6 it out on the table near an open window. He thought his pepperoni was 7 and well chilled (冷却) and he 8 .
That's when things went 9. "I remember walking down the long 10 and opening the door to my room to find an entire flock of seagulls," Burchill said in a recent letter of 11 to the 4-star hotel. "The seagulls immediately went 12 . They rushed to the window, 30 or 40 birds all trying to 13 at the same time, and pepperoni—everywhere. The curtains were falling down, the lamps were falling down, It was a real 14 .
Older and wiser now, Burchill chalked up the incident to youthful indiscretion (莽撞).
"I have 15 and I admit responsibility of my 16," he said in the letter. "I come to you, 17 , to apologize for the-damage I had 18 caused and to ask you to 19 my lifetime ban from the hotel."
His letter 20. Banned from the hotel since 2001.Burchill is now welcome to come back, the Fairmont said.
The Xi'an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China's long history. It (build) originally to protect the city the Tang dynasty and has now been completely restored (修复). It is possible (walk) or bike the entire 14 kilometers.
We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.
After (spend) some time looking at all the defensive equipment at the wall, we decided it was time for some action and what (good) than to ride on a piece of history!
We (hire) our bikes from the rental place at the South Gate. My bike was old and shaky did the job. It took us about 3 hours to go all way around the Xi'an City Wall. Supposedly you can do it in two hours, but we stopped at the different gates and (watchtower) to fake pictures or just to watch the local people going about their (day) routines.
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Last week our teacher asked us to fill in a questionnaire. One of the questions are:Who will you go in times of trouble? Here are the results. Many students say they will talk to their friend or classmates because they're of the same age and can understand each other. Some will turn out to their parents or teachers for help. Only a little choose to deal with the problems on our own. Their answers also show that they dislike talk to others. They kept very much to themselves. In my opinion, where in trouble, we should seek help from those we trust mostly.
1)阐明写信事由;
2)征求建议;
3)表示感谢。
注意:
1)词数100左右;
2)可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。